Iranian Researchers Find New Species of Oysters in Persian Gulf
The researchers of the National Institute of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences reported the presence of a small oyster species in the North of the Persian Gulf, saying that the presence of the non-native oyster can overshadow the ecosystem of other aquatic organisms in this region.
Hamzeh Qaffari, a postdoctoral researcher at the National Institute of Oceanography and Atmospheric Sciences, and his colleagues, in a study recently published in the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, presented a genealogical analysis of oyster species in the Northern coasts of the Persian Gulf and Sea of Oman.
In this study, they used morphological and molecular methods to identify oyster shells down to the lowest taxonomic levels.
“The taxonomy of oysters along the Northern coasts of the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman is not well recognized. We present a phylogenetic analysis of oyster species in these regions. We combined morphological and molecular techniques to obtain the identity of oysters to the lowest taxonomic levels. Analysis of partial nucleotide sequences from mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COI) was used for the phylogenetic evaluation,” Qaffari said.
“Based on our findings, Iranian samples nested within the genus Saccostrea and belonged to Saccostrea mordax and Saccostrea palmula clades. The shell morphology of the studied samples was variable, as in other rock oyster species.”
He noted that the examination of morphological features was in line with the molecular outcomes, but despite some similarities, Iranian S. palmula had well-developed and elongated chomata, adding that the results also showed that S. mordax and S. palmula possessed significant relative abundance as dominant oysters in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman, respectively.
“Phylogenetic analysis revealed that Iranian samples of S. palmula formed a separate subclade from the Gulf of California and Panama samples, with large genetic distances (6–7%). Iranian specimens differed morphologically and genetically, suggesting that they could be a new species, although more research is needed,” Qaffari said.
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